


Welcome to the Circus of the Stars

by clairvoyantPeach



Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: Ahn Hyejin | Hwasa - Freeform, Alternate Universe - Circus, Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Alternate Universe - Supernatural Elements, Best Friends Byun Baekhyun & Kim Jongdae | Chen, Demons, Dragons, Eventual Fluff, Explicit Language, Fae & Fairies, Friends to Lovers, Jeon Wonwoo - Freeform, Kwon Soonyoung | Hoshi - Freeform, Lisa (BLACKPINK) - Freeform, M/M, Magic, Magical Realism, Minor Character Death, Minor Jeon Wonwoo/Kwon Soonyoung | Hoshi, Nymphs & Dryads, Sirens, Strangers to Lovers, Violence, Warlocks, Werewolves, Witches, Yoon Jeonghan - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-25
Updated: 2020-11-09
Packaged: 2021-03-09 06:29:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 17,931
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27199213
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/clairvoyantPeach/pseuds/clairvoyantPeach
Summary: Not to be redundant, but the world is a harsh place. It’s just a fact. There’s poverty, bigotry, illness, unexplainable cruelty, and not to mention the damage done to the environment. But that’s all just human stuff.But what about the rest of the world?What about the creatures in human myth and legend, the creatures that aren't so mythical and legendary? The son of a Witch and the half-breed child of a Dryad and a Faerie deserve love and family too, but the path to getting there is a bit more chaotic and filled with blood, revenge, skin-tight leotards, circus performers, and carnivorous best friends.
Relationships: Byun Baekhyun & Kim Jongdae | Chen, Byun Baekhyun & Kim Junmyeon | Suho, Byun Baekhyun/Park Chanyeol, Do Kyungsoo | D.O & Oh Sehun & Park Chanyeol, Oh Sehun & Park Chanyeol
Comments: 18
Kudos: 14





	1. Act 1

Act 1.

Not to be redundant, but the world is a harsh place. It’s just a fact. There’s poverty, bigotry, illness, unexplainable cruelty, and not to mention the damage done to the environment. But that’s all just human stuff. Well, it’s not all human stuff because horrible things like this aren’t specific to one species – Except, the environmental ignorance. That’s purely human. – but the awful shit that goes on in the world is only seen through the eyes of humanity, the mortals, the mundane.

But what about the rest of the world?

What about the creatures that have lived alongside, if not longer, with humanity? It’s not like they go unnoticed. There’s plenty of Witch hunts, demon repellants, and Siren poachers out there to prove that.

Yes, look at the struggles for equality among human “races” and “genders” and “sexualities” and strive to fix them. But while all that is going on, there are packs of Wolves out there being hunted for bounty, Fae grounds being burned and salted, and countless other supernatural species out there forced into extreme methods of hiding. No one’s seen a dragon in centuries, besides their footprints in the snow of the Alps and smoke rumored to curl from their nostrils over snowy ridges.

Humans take center show.

Not because they’re given it, but because they take it. They may not have long lives – not when compared to the Fae and nature spirits or the Warlocks and Witches or dragons and demons – but they’re more tenacious and vicious than the most rabid Wolf during the Harvest Moon. Lots of lives have been lost because of pitchforks and torches. Vampires went completely extinct a few decades ago, and no one batted an eye.

No _human_ batted an eye.

Suho did much more than blink at the news, he cried, he _mourned_. He had a few close vampire friends. Friends he thought were safe with the wards and charm bags he’d given them the spring before their deaths. But, no, there’s only so many lavender soaked bones a Warlock can give his friends to protect them from humans. Eventually, the red-blooded bastards see through it. They figure out with little glances, tiny hints, a small mistake, and then they kill. It reminded Suho too much of the majority of the Warlock population. They, too, kill for little reasons, and Suho’s ashamed to call himself one. His kind would’ve been hunted to extinction too – for much better reasons than the vampires who drank only animal blood and coconut water – if they didn’t have magic and a dark desire to survive. The Warlocks became a hidden, but strong species, always plotting and acting against their fellow supernatural as well as human.

Suho decided he’d dedicate the rest of his nearly-immortal life to helping his fellow supernatural. Anyone abandoned, broken, scared, or magical stumbles upon his doorstep, and he welcomes them with open arms and gives them his protection.

It was hard at first – not that it ever stopped being difficult, but it got easier once he figured out the little tricks and details – finding a safe place for so-called monsters. He let pack-less Wolves into his home, let Dryads plant their roots in his yard and Naiads sleep in his pond and gave tired Fae all the honey they needed. But nature spirits and Fae don’t get along. Initially, he had to stop more fights between species than he provided food. No one stayed long, he couldn’t provide for those who needed long term homes and it _sucked._

Then, he went to a human circus.

The costumes, the displays, the playful performers who remained at a distance, and the laughing, smiling, _harmless_ humans at peace around him. It was perfect.

That very night, luckily a very full and very bright moon, Suho went back to his home, greeted the pixies in his sunflowers, and chanted the incantations necessary to make a large, red, and black striped tent. He weaved protection spells into the fabric, stitched runes along the seams and up the poles on the inside, cleansed it from top to bottom with burning sage and rosemary, and cast a couple of extra enchantments to make the ceiling of the tent reflect the night sky and allow humans in if they had a specially made ticket.

Suho stood, under the fabricated stars, and knew he’d made something wonderful – revolutionary, even – and all he had left to do was find performers.

This leads us to now, fifteen years down the line, in the Circus of the Stars – a cheeky name Suho came up with because of the enchanted ceiling, though the humans think it’s simply painted or sewed on – with its Warlock ringleader and six supernatural-performers (give or take a few that come and go). The Circus of the Stars moves from town to town, country to country, never passing through the same location again till a few years have passed and the locals have forgotten the faces and proves protection for any supernatural creatures that stumble into the tent.

Baekhyun stumbled into the tent only six months into Suho’s search for performers – the supernatural creatures in need of protection – and, boy, did Baekhyun need protection. Nature spirits and the Fae have had bad blood for millennia, and Baekhyun happens to be the sorry son-of-a-bitch born to a very odd couple of a flower Fae and a Dryad. His parents were Romeo and Juliet, the only difference being that he was born before they were killed. Before the Dryads could press an iron blade to his throat or the Fae rip out the willow roots he inherited from his mother growing around his arms and legs, he was saved by a kindly old Witch.

But Nana Irene died. Her protection spells died with her and his presence was no longer hidden from the two warring species. Baekhyun ran. He feared humans and he feared the supernatural. He’d only known the loving hands of Nana Irene, and she’d warned him of the danger in the world. A herd of fae had chased him through the Bulgarian mountains, through farmland, and to the salted edge of a large black and red tent.

Suho stepped out of the tent with a swoosh of his velvet cloak and pulled Baekhyun into his arms and over the salt. The Fae hissed at the salt’s edge and backed away, all while tossing insults towards Suho for protecting the Cursed Born – not Baekhyun’s proudest title. Suho gave Baekhyun a sweet smile and asked if he knew what Aerial Silk was.

He didn’t, but he learned.

Baekhyun’s the longest ward Suho’s had. The others that joined the Circus of the Stars before him have long since moved on. Even if Baekhyun could leave the Circus ground’s magic boundaries – nature spirits and Fae are incredibly long-lived and incredibly good at holding grudges – he wouldn’t. For some, the Circus is a temporary refuge, but for a few of them, it’s home. The tent is his life and his fellow performers are his family.

“Baekhyun,” Minseok says, loud and cheerful. He’s standing in the open flap of Baekhyun’s tent, a silhouette against the bright morning sun behind him. Baekhyun groans and rolls over to further burrow into his blankets and pillows. “A few of us are heading out to the city, do you need anything?”

Baekhyun groans again, but props himself on his elbows. His eyes adjust slowly as he stares at Minseok, letting his brainpower up at the same pace. When Minseok finally comes into focus, Baekhyun is a little shocked to see he’s not already glamoured as a human. Usually, once the sun rises, Minseok and a few others of the more obviously supernatural go to Suho for their glamours.

But, nope, not today. Minseok still has his true form’s green skin, the black twin horns growing out of his temples, and big sharp canines that poke out from under his lips that reach past his nostrils. Baekhyun’s always thought they seem difficult to eat with, but he’s never asked. As much as his curiosity is _killing_ him, it’s dangerous to ask an Oni about his appearance.

“Do your teeth make eating difficult?” he asks, his voice still thick with sleep. Damnit, Baekhyun, he thinks. “They look difficult to eat with.”

If Minseok were a normal Oni, he’d beat Baekhyun’s skull in with a club, but he’s not a normal Oni. He wouldn’t be at the Circus of the Stars if he was. His laugh still catches Baekhyun off guard.

“I was wondering how long it’d take you to ask that,” he says. He smiles widely, showing off even more clunky, thick teeth. “They’re actually a lot easier to eat with than you think, but that’s only because I can unhinge my jaw for really big bites. You’ve never noticed?”

Baekhyun’s face twists into a natural, dramatic expression of disgust. “I don’t watch others eat. By unhinge, do you mean like a snake?”

Minseok hums in agreement, crossing his buff arms.

“Gross.”

“Says you,” Minseok says. “Now, do you need anything from the city?”

“Honey?” Baekhyun asks. His store’s running low and he likes to collect different types of honey from wherever they visit, but nothing else comes to mind. He runs his hand through his hair and a few chamomile petals fall onto the blankets. “Oh! I need more jars to store my petals. I filled up the last one yesterday.”

“Okidoki,” Minseok says. “I’ll add them to the list. Also, before I go, I still _cannot_ believe you make tea from the flowers that grow from your head.”

Baekhyun shrugs. “I can’t believe you can unhinge your jaw like a snake. We all have our quirks.”

Minseok rolls his eyes and pulls the tent flaps closed behind him, casting Baekhyun in darkness once again. His eyes adjust a lot quicker this time – it’s not that dark because of the nightlight hanging from the ceiling that’s just a spinning ball with holes and filled with magic light – and he looks around his tent. It’s a magical gypsy tent and much larger than it appears from the outside, so he can fit some meager furniture. There’s a round wicker chair with a small side table, a few shelves filled with books, dried herbs, teas, and honey, and then his bed which is two mattresses stacked on top of each other and piled with blankets and pillows. He also, thank the gods, has a bathroom with magical plumbing past a curtain of beads. Everything’s draped in colorful cloths, beads, dried flowers, and homemade protection charms. Jongdae likes to say a blanket troll threw up inside his tent. Suho likes to say there’s no such thing as a blanket troll.

Speaking of his friends, the chatter outside Baekhyun’s tent is a lot louder than it was a few minutes ago. He kicks back his covers, pulls on a fresh pair of silky black pants and a sweater that smells clean, brushes his teeth, and grabs a jar of his chamomile. He doesn’t bother with shoes – he’s never worn them before, and it’s not like he goes anywhere that requires them – and tiptoes around the willow tree roots and red vines growing along the rug covered the floor of his tent on his way out. They aren’t usually there, but they tend to sprout up wherever he sleeps.

The sunshine isn’t nearly as bright as it was when Minseok first opened his tent, but it’s definitely louder outside. The tents of the Circus’ workers and performers are arranged in a big circle around a bonfire pit behind the main tent. There are currently six performers, a few workers who help around the Circus for food and protection, and Suho’s which stands directly across the circle from Baekhyun’s. A handful of the others are gathered around the fire pit, eating breakfast, and Baekhyun’s about to join them when he hears a soft humming.

He turns to see Jongdae. He’s on his hammock outside his tent to the right of Baekhyun in his pajamas. Now that Baekhyun’s looking at him, he can hear Jongdae’s humming louder like it’s right in his ears. He lets his feet take control and he wanders to his best friend. Jongdae stops humming as soon as Baekhyun blocks his sun.

“Hey,” he says snootily. “I’m trying to sunbathe here.”

Baekhyun snorts. “You would be as bright red as a crab if it weren’t for your glamour,” he says. Jongdae rolls his eyes but doesn’t deny it. By nature, he’s an ocean dweller, and the sun isn’t gentle on his natural, sickly, blue skin. Now, however, he’s tanned and golden under the guise of humanity.

“Exactly, I need as much sun as I can get while I can.”

“Whatever,” Baekhyun says. “Have you seen Suho yet?”

Jongdae gasps dramatically, loud enough to draw a few of the others’ attention before they see who it is and look away, and smacks a hand to his chest. “Are you saying, you didn’t come over here to spend quality time with me?”

“I came over here because you were humming under your breath and I literally can’t control walking over to you when you do that.”

“Oh,” Jongdae says sheepishly. “Sorry ‘bout that.”

“Don’t be,” Baekhyun says with a shrug. “I don’t mind being put under your Siren spell every-once-in-a-while as long as you don’t eat me.”

“I’ll try not to.” Jongdae wrinkles his nose. “You’d probably taste disgusting anyways, like bark and grass.”

“Suho?”

“Buzzkill,” Jongdae says. To Baekhyun, it feels like a personal attack. He is _not_ a buzzkill. He’s just about to say so when Jongdae interrupts him. “Suho gave me my glamour about an hour ago, then disappeared into his tent. I haven’t seen him since, but Minseok and Yixing both came out of there with their glamours a few minutes ago.”

“Thanks,” Baekhyun throws over his shoulder, already walking away. “I’ll be back.”

“Bet,” Jongdae says.

Inside Suho’s tent is like a two-story house, from the outside it looks like the same cloth tent as the rest of them, if not a little bit taller, but on the inside it’s much larger than they have. When Baekhyun asked why they don’t get such spacey tents, Suho explained it’s because he transformed his previous cottage into his tent, while he made the rest of the tents from scrap fabric and wood.

“There’s only so much magic can do,” Suho likes to say. “It works better when you have a base to help it along.”

Baekhyun pushes past the tent opening and walks tiptoe over the hardwood floor to the kitchen. Suho’s cooking at the stove, apron on, and eggs sizzling in a pan. If he hears Baekhyun – which he definitely did, Suho knows every step anyone takes in his caravan – he doesn’t acknowledge him. Baekhyun slides up next to him, a good foot away, and shakes his jar.

Suho cracks a smile and snaps his fingers. The kettle starts to boil.

“Thanks,” Baekhyun says, reaching up to the cabinets and pulling down two mugs. He sets to quietly scooping chamomile petals and leaves into the mugs while Suho continues to cook. They’ve had the same morning ritual for nearly fifteen years and it’s natural the way they move next to each other in Suho’s kitchen. When the kettle whistles and Suho serves up his plate of eggs, Baekhyun pours the tea and fills his own mug a third of the way with honey.

“Can I try it?” Suho asks like he always does, motioning to Baekhyun’s steaming mug with his chopsticks.

Baekhyun nods with a little smile and pushes it towards Suho like he always does. Suho blows on it and takes a sip making a really disgusted face as a chill goes down his spine.

“You can’t even taste the chamomile,” he says. “It’s all honey.”

“It’s my food,” Baekhyun says with a laugh. “You know this, but you always ask to try it anyway.”

“The sweetness wakes me up better than coffee can,” Suho says, digging into his meal. “Plus, it’s nice to have some patterns in the madness of our lives.”

Baekhyun scoffs. “You say that, but it’s not like either of us ever leave this campground.”

“You say that,” Suho says between bites. “But you can’t leave for your safety and I can’t leave for everyone’s safety.”

He’s right. Baekhyun knows he’s right, but he can’t help but be curious if not disappointed. They’ve been all over the globe – well, at least the Eurasian continent – but Baekhyun’s only ever seen the edges of towns, the different types of trees and flowers, and the fashion of people who come to the show. That’s it. He hasn’t heard legends from locals in Mumbai like Jongdae nor been pulled into an illegal furs market in Russia like Jongin nor had people from France, Germany, _and_ Turkey flirt with him like Yixing. The closest he’s gotten is looking into the audience from above while he and Jongdae tangle themselves in their silks.

“Doesn’t mean I can’t be bummed about it,” Baekhyun grumbles. There’s no use arguing. Suho already uses up a lot of his magic daily for their glamours, to keep the caravan concealed from anyone who’d want to hurt them, and to mask his own magical signature. As many creatures as there may be after Baekhyun, there are twice as many and twice as angry Warlocks after Suho. Afterall, that’s why no one knows his true name. Names have a lot of power to Warlocks and Witches.

Suho’s hand reaches across the small table and rests over Baekhyun’s wrist. He smiles in that sad but warm way only he can. “I’m sorry you can’t leave the camp, Baek,” he says. “I wish I had more power or another magic user here to help you, but there’s only so much one Warlock can do.”

Great, now Baekhyun feels guilty. “I didn’t mean that, Suho,” Baekhyun says meekly. “You know that. I’m just whining.”

“You should leave the whining to Jongdae,” Suho says with a laugh. “It doesn’t suit you.”

“Yeah, guess you’re right about that.”

“I’m normally right,” Suho says. Baekhyun scrunches his face and looks Suho up and down slowly, feigning disbelief. Suho laughs again, louder this time. “There’s the Baekhyun I know. Now, go get Jongdae. You guys need to practice his pronunciation. If we want any of the locals to come to the show, we need them to be able to actually understand our Siren.”

“Aye, aye Captain,” Baekhyun says. He salutes Suho and leaves him, walking out of the tent with the jolly sound of Suho’s laughter following him like a warm, comforting breeze.

Jongdae’s still on his hammock with his arm draped over his eyes to block the sun which means he hasn’t seen Baekhyun yet. Perfect. Baekhyun walks quietly, in the way he picked up from his parents making the brittle twigs and leaves he steps on mold under his feet like clay. He reaches the edge of Jongdae’s hammock and flips it.

Jongdae flies to the grass with a startled yelp. “What the _fuck_ , Baek!?” he screeches.

Baekhyun winces at the shrillness of it. They’re really lucky Jongdae was born a Siren and not a Banshee. His personality would cause many, many people’s ears to bleed and souls to leave their bodies at the sheer volume of his whinging. The others around the campfire, Jongin, and the temporary refugees don’t even bother to look this time.

“We have to work on your pronunciation,” Baekhyun says. He jabs his thumb over his shoulder towards the Big Top, it’s situated at the base of a big grassy hill right at the tree line of the forest.

Jongdae rises, grumbling and dusting himself off, as they trudge towards then past the Big Top and up the hill. It’s a quick climb, but steep, and by they’re at the top they’re both out of breath. Baekhyun plops under a large willow, it’s not the same type of weeping willow as his mother since they don’t grow this far west, but it still reminds him of her. He tucks himself between the roots sticking out from under the topsoil like he used to do to her when he was little and pats the ground next to him. Jongdae collapses dramatically.

“I don’t see why it’s so important to get my pronunciation right,” Jongdae says. “I’m a Siren, they’ll come when they hear my voice whether they understand it or not.”

Baekhyun sighs. “Dae, we have this conversation every time we cross a border,” Baekhyun says. And that’s a _lot_. “When the Siren-induced fog fades, we can’t have any humans question why they were so compelled to come to our show. If they can understand you then they can blame it on curiosity or good advertising. If they can’t, and you’re just singing incoherent crap, then they’ll get suspicious.”

“As humans are bound to do,” Jongdae says. “Their species has major trust issues.”

Baekhyun rolls his eyes and looks out towards the vague outline of the city. “Yeah, tell me about it,” he says.

Baekhyun doesn’t hate humans, unlike many of the supernatural he’s met, but he doesn’t like them either. They destroy his environment, they cut down trees – killing thousands of Dryads and damaging the homes of the Fae – they contaminate rivers, streams, lakes, and oceans suffocating not only animals but the Naiads that live there too. They’re horrible, disgusting creatures that take and take and _take_. Baekhyun might not hate humans, but he can’t help but agree the Earth would be better without them.

“Okay,” Baekhyun says, clearing his throat. “Sing for me.”

“You’re sure you’ll be able to actually help?” Jongdae asks.

It’s a valid question. It’s hard to listen to a Siren’s song and think. But Baekhyun’s known Jongdae for seven years and he’s learned to see and hear past the enchantment. He’s the only one at camp who can sit this close to Jongdae and listen to him sing without wanting to crawl down his throat.

“Of course,” Baekhyun says. He shrugs one shoulder. “Better than anyone else. Now, sing.”

Jongdae opens his mouth and the world blurs a bit at the edges.

_[Intermission]_

Life is harsh and horrible for supernatural creatures, that’s been established, but there’s a vast variety of harsh and horrible. The harshest and most horrible – like being young and watching the ones you love be burned and snapped and skinned in front of your very eyes – is when the supernatural turn against the supernatural. The Fae v. nature spirits is an ancient battle and doesn’t count here. Truly awful and evil things aren’t tied into age-old rivalries or silly feuds, instead, they’re found in acts of impulse.

Like what happened to Chanyeol’s mother and the entirety of Sehun and Kyungsoo’s pack.

Let’s start at the beginning. Chanyeol, Sehun, and Kyungsoo have known each other since they were young kids. Chanyeol’s mother was a sweet Witch who raised her son in the mountains alone away from humanity and other Witches. Good Witches and Warlocks aren’t rare, per say, but they aren’t common and Chanyeol’s mother wanted to spare her son from ever encountering an evil magic user, especially since he doesn’t have any magic himself.

Witches and Warlocks are very gender specific species. Witches are female. Warlocks are male. When a Witch has a child with a human, only her daughters will inherit the magical abilities and vice versa with Warlocks and any sons they have with a human. If Witches and Warlocks have children together, then any gendered child will have magic. Chanyeol was born of a human father – his life essence absorbed into Chanyeol’s mother during consummation – so he didn’t inherit his mother’s powers.

She needed to keep him safe, so they lived isolated but happy.

Chanyeol loved his mother more than anything. She taught him which plants he could eat and which ones would turn him into a frog or make him violently ill. She showed him how to heal migraines with peppermint roots, stomach ulcers with ground lizard bone and clove tea, mend broken bones with splints made of cedar, and wrapped with sweetgrass. She couldn’t teach him magic, but she taught him the practical side of being a Witch.

Nearby, sharing the same mountain as Chanyeol and his mother, lived a pack of Wolves. They were kind, brave, and always shared some of their hunts with Chanyeol and his mother in exchange for magical advice and healing.

Chanyeol played with the pups while his mother was working, and really connected with the Alpha’s son, Kyungsoo, and another pup, Sehun. They were inseparable. Chanyeol’s the oldest, but Kyungsoo’s more of the leader. He’d pretend to be the Alpha of their pretend pack, planning hunts and moon ceremonies and defense against enemy attacks. Chanyeol and Sehun would stumble along, laughing loudly and doing everything they could think of to catch Kyungsoo off guard.

It never worked, but that was okay since they had fun.

The massacre happened a month before Chanyeol’s tenth birthday.

It was during a New Moon festival. There was traditional food, singing, dancing, and Chanyeol and his mother were invited as friends of the pack. Everyone was just sitting down around the bonfire to listen to the Alpha tell Wolf legends when they attacked.

A group of ten or so Witches and Warlocks flooded out of the forest, mistaken for the shadows of the trees themselves before they twisted and warped into being. They descended upon the relaxed Wolves like starving buzzards on a corpse. Dark magic extinguished the flames and left Chanyeol stumbling away from the screaming towards where he last saw his mother.

Every now and then the darkness would light up purple from the magic cast and another Wolf or pup would scream, gargle, choke, and drop. Chanyeol’s vision was blurry from tears and his throat was burning as he held back vomit. He was terrified, but his mother told him this could happen one day. Dark magic users weren’t known for their mercy. Chanyeol had to run. But running blind in an unfamiliar area meant he was bound to trip.

His nose hit the ground first. It broke with a sharp snap and knocked the breath out of him. For the first time, he called out for his mother. She was closer than he thought and he felt her warm hand on his back only a moment later. He wanted this all to be a bad dream and for this to be his mom waking up. He wanted to crawl into her lap and sob about the horrible things his mind came up with. But the ache in his nose, the blood seeping into his mouth, and the chorus of hysterical cackling at each shout of pain was very, very real.

“Chanyeol,” his mother said softly into his ear. “I know it hurts, baby, but you need to get up. We need to run.”

He nodded, sucking back the blood clogging his sinuses as she pulled him to his feet. He didn’t know how she could see in the darkness, but it was probably because she was a Witch and he’s not.

But no sooner had Chanyeol found his balance were they enveloped in the same magical purple light. It didn’t hurt at first, the flames, but then it hurt all at once worse than anything he’s ever experienced and anything he’ll ever experience again. A Warlock had cast his evil towards them and it _burnt_. Black flames licked up Chanyeol’s back, outlined in that sickly purple so he could watch them as they consumed him from behind.

Then, as quickly as the pain started, it stopped. His back throbbed with the dull, raw pain of fresh burns, but the flames were gone.

His mother started screaming in his ear. Nothing coherent only strangled sobs and gargling noises that would haunt Chanyeol for decades. The flames grew up around her, faster than it did Chanyeol, and brighter. She was ash in the blink of an eye.

“That’s how the flames should work,” the Warlock said. His voice was raspy and tight and filled with a hatred that Chanyeol couldn’t understand why it was directed at him. “Burn you up to a crisp in a few seconds flat. It worked on the hag, but why didn’t work on you?”

The Warlock raised his hand, purple-black flames licking up from inside his robes, but his throat was ripped out before he could cast them at Chanyeol again. A large black Wolf turned towards Chanyeol and opened his maw to speak, his teeth dripping with the Warlock’s blood.

“Run,” the Alpha said. Chanyeol had never seen him in his Wolf form before. He’s just as cool as Kyungsoo described. “Find any pack members you can, you’ll be safe with them.”

Chanyeol looked at the pile of his mother’s ashes, chilled to the bone with shock, and ran. He believed with all his heart that the Alpha would survive. He was strong. He was brave, braver than Chanyeol. Kyungsoo believed his father was invincible, but they were proved wrong when Chanyeol found Kyungsoo behind an old oak and they turned to watch the Alpha impaled with a Warlock’s spear.

They hid together, in the hollow of the oak, breathing quietly together and shaking so hard they thought the sound of their chattering teeth would be the death of them. They didn’t move till the screaming had stopped and the laughter was hours gone. They found Sehun a bit later under a pile of boulders in his Wolf form, paws over his snout with a newly chipped canine. He’d jammed it against a rock in his rush to hide from a Witch that had been pursuing him, snapping the neck of each and every pup she came across.

They stood together, against the cold boulders, and tried desperately to understand what just happened.

“Is,” Sehun started, but paused to swallow hard. He was in his human form again, but if he wasn’t, he’d have his tail tucked between his legs. “Is anyone else alive?”

“No,” Kyungsoo said as level as he could. He felt, now that his father was gone, it was time for him to be a real leader, not just a pretend one. “You’re the only one we’ve found.”

“So, it’s possible some of the pack got away?”

Kyungsoo looked to the ground sadly. He told them he’d been put into the hollow of the oak tree by his father the moment the attack started. He’d seen it all. Besides the three of them, there weren’t survivors.

“Your mom?” Sehun asked Chanyeol quietly, but the words are loud enough to shatter Chanyeol’s world. He shook his head, his nose hurting, and his back raw, and falls to his knees. He sobbed and sobbed and sobbed. He’s not sure if the other two cried, but when he finally managed to clear his vision, their eyes were red too.

When they were ready, they buried the bodies of the pack they could find. Chanyeol gathered the ashes of his mother into a glass pendant he tied around his neck with a leather cord. He never wanted to leave her again. For the next five years, they lived at Chanyeol’s house and never returned to the site of the massacre in fear the Warlocks and Witches would return. Eventually, the protective wards his mother constructed were damaged or lost their mojo and their little pack had to move on.

They were young, inexperienced, afraid, and stupid. But they survived. They found odd jobs and never stayed in one city too long, and when they couldn’t find work, they hunted and slept in tents. It was hard for Chanyeol. He was practically human around two Wolves. He couldn’t run as fast as them, he couldn’t hunt as well as them, and he definitely couldn’t fight as well as them. But he refused to back down. He studied as much as he could into natural healing and magic that didn’t require actual spell work or powers. It’s not as effective, but it definitely proved useful on more than one occasion and more than one broken bone.

Their mismatched pack has their scars. Some physical, like the scar across Chanyeol’s nose from when it broke or the burns covering his back, some emotional, like Kyungsoo who saw so much horror when he was too young and refused to show any type of vulnerability, and some mental, like the anxiety Sehun has that keeps him from going outside at night. For a long time, these scars held them back and they only lived to survive. Sometimes they still do, but there was a change.

A change from surviving to living with a purpose.

It happened when Sehun saw _her._

They were in Portugal, tiling roofs when Sehun looked down into the street. A woman was walking, no, she was floating. She drifted through the crowd like her feet were a brook and the street was worn stone. She wore all black but wasn’t sweating at all underneath the summer sun. Now, that’s not odd, per se, but then she looked behind her like she felt eyes watching her. She didn’t look up to see Sehun, no one ever thinks to look up.

Sehun dropped his hammer on Kyungsoo’s foot.

“It’s her,” he said, interrupting Kyungsoo’s cursing mid-stream.

“Who?” Chanyeol asked.

“The Witch,” Sehun said, his voice quavering, but Chanyeol couldn’t tell if it was from fear or anger or both. “The one who chased me down, holding Chungae’s limp body in her hand by the throat. She was the eighth pup that bitch had killed before setting her sights on me.”

Chanyeol’s throat tightened. Chungae was only three when she died. None of the others had been so little, so defenseless, yet the dark Witch had managed to kill them just as easily.

“What are we waiting for?” Chanyeol asked. His pack members turned to him in shock. “Let’s kill that cunt.”

Sehun looked to Kyungsoo. Chanyeol was never one for violence, he usually turned away when the Wolves brought home the most recent hunt or during really bloody scenes in movies, but right now he was angry. All he wanted to do was break her neck as she did to all those pups. Kyungsoo nods, placing his own hammer down.

“Let’s go,” he said.

And that was that. They passed their boss, mentioned going out for lunch, and followed the Witch from the massacre down the streets. She kept looking behind her and there’s no way she didn’t see them, but they kept pursuing. Wolves – both the supernatural kind and their animal relatives – are patient hunters. They’ll pursue their prey for days, not stopping, not chasing, just walking behind, watching, and waiting for the perfect moment. They followed the woman through alleyways and once they had her cornered, they struck. Sehun transformed into his Wolf form, big and imposing with the same chipped canine, and wrapped his teeth around her throat. He held on loosely, teeth pressed into her neck with enough pressure she couldn’t move without risking it being ripped out, but tight enough that she could answer their questions.

“What did I do to you?” the woman asked. It’s not an innocent question nor does it hold any fear. It’s curious like she’s done so many horrible things to so many people she needs clarification on what it is, exactly, that she did _this_ time to put her in danger.

“The Do Pack massacre,” Kyungsoo said tersely. “Mt. Jiri, eight years ago.”

The Witch paused, lifting her hand to tap on her temple. Sehun growled and she lowered her hand nervously. It’s the only sign of fear she’d shown so far. Chanyeol felt a sick sense of satisfaction.

“I remember that,” she said with a chuckle. “There were so many little ones there. They were so cute I couldn’t help but break them.”

Sehun growled again, a line of blood trickled down from the Witch’s throat and over her breast. Kyungsoo walked closer, bending down to look her in the eye.

“Why?” he asked.

“Why what?” the Witch returned. When Kyungsoo didn’t answer right away, she ignored him and focused her eyes on Chanyeol. “You three aren’t so big yourself. You must’ve been the pups that escaped me.”

Kyungsoo slammed his hand on the brick wall next to her head. She dragged her eyes slowly, so painfully slow, from Chanyeol. Kyungsoo was nearly nose to nose to her now.

“Why did you attack our pack?” he asked. “Why did you kill our family?”

She cocked her head to the side. It made Chanyeol nauseous. Even Sehun was nervous, despite her throat being in his mouth, and he tucked his tail between his legs. “Because,” the woman said, disgustingly fond. “It was fun.”

Sehun ripped her throat out and she was dead in an instant. He didn’t stop there though. He tore her to shreds, ripping muscle from bone, till she was nothing but a mound of parts. She looked like the sick version of when a dog removes the stuffing from its toy.

They never returned to work that day, instead, they packed up their bags, what money they had, and left for Poland. On the way, they listened. They caught stories of horrible incidents caused by magic from both the humans and the supernatural. They decided, during that trip between countries when they focused on more than keeping their heads down for once, that this group of dark Witches and Warlocks needed to die.

While, it’s not much better than living only to survive, living for revenge makes them feel alive. It’s been nearly eighteen years since the massacre, ten years since they started their revenge mission, and there’s only one Warlock, out of ten, they’re still tracking. The only one that’s managed to evade them for this long is the one that threw the spear that pierced through Kyungsoo’s father’s heart.

“You’ve double-checked what you need, right?” Kyungsoo asks.

Chanyeol rolls his eyes. Eighteen years he’s lived with Kyungsoo and Sehun, yet they still ask him dumb shit like this.

“Of course,” Chanyeol says, standing and hefting his pack over his shoulder. Empty glass jars and vials clink together softly inside. They’re for the herb refills. He’s running low and without his healing skills, his pack members would be in big trouble. Sehun could figure out how to die via scraped knee if given the chance. “When have I ever forgotten anything?”

“Never,” Kyungsoo says, there’s a smirk in his voice despite the lack of one on his face. “Just hurry up. I want to be onto the next town by nightfall.”

“You’re the boss, Alpha,” Chanyeol says. Kyungsoo elbows him as he passes.

Sehun’s sitting outside their tent on a rock near the fire pit. They decided to camp out in this town instead of getting a hotel. There are really good bathhouses in Rome, though not as good as Korea, and the forest is lush and filled with great prey. Sadly, it doesn’t grow all the herbs Chanyeol needs. Sehun chucks the pinecone in his hand and stands.

“Finally,” he says. “You got the list, right?”

“Why do you two keep asking me that?” Chanyeol asks. He digs into his pocket and pulls out the list. Sehun laughs and puts up his hands in surrender.

“Alright, okay,” Sehun says. “I won’t ask again.”

“Don’t. The day we stop asking is the day he actually forgets,” Kyungsoo says. Chanyeol elbows _him_ this time.

It takes them a while to find all the supplies they need. Chanyeol’s are a bit harder to find because it’s not like there’s an apothecary anywhere – at least, not a legit apothecary – and they have to bounce between farmer’s markets, holistic healing stores, and specialty tea shops. After having just left the _third_ store that was sold out of witch hazel – stupid, new age skincare – Chanyeol runs into a green man.

Yep.

There’s no other way to put that.

The man is eating an apple, taking small bites with his front teeth because his giant tusk-like canines seem to be in the way, and has green skin. Not sickly green like he just got out of a taxi, but green like the leaves on the trees above them. There are twin sets of horns on his temples, black and shining and _no one else seems to notice_.

Chanyeol’s seen an Oni before, he has, but typically they’re taller than him and look like they could snap him like a toothpick. This one is short and looks the opposite of muscular. There’s no way this man is a real Oni. No way. But what else could he be? A human in costume? He _is_ wearing casual human clothes – a soft sweater, baggy jeans, and _flip-flops­ –_ and usually Oni rock the loincloth look with pride. But a costume wouldn’t make sense. Humans are cautious, anxious creatures that are much too superstitious. They believe dressing like anything supernatural invites them into their lives, and that’s the last thing a human wants to do.

Chanyeol looks to Sehun and Kyungsoo, waiting for him against the wall outside the store, and they seem completely relaxed. They should be able to smell the man if he was a demon. So, he can’t be one. He can’t, right?

“Hey, man,” the green man says. “Sorry, I wasn’t watching where I was going.”

“No problem,” Chanyeol says automatically. What is going on? He looks around at the humans on the street. A human woman brushes past the green man and doesn’t bat an eye.

“Y’know,” the guy says slyly. “I don’t usually do this, but…”

Oh, great. This Oni poser is going to invite him to some weird underground kink club or something. That’s why everyone’s ignoring his appearance. They don’t want anything to do with him.

“I work at the Circus of the Stars,” the guy says.

“Huh?”

“Y’know,” the guy grins, “The Big Top in town. We travel all over Europe and Asia and we have some really sick acts.”

This guy’s a clown. Literally. That must be why he’s dressed like that. It’s a supernatural-themed circus. Wow, Chanyeol thinks, humans are getting brave, openly making fun of us like this.

“There’s a strong man,” the green guy continues, subtly flexing. “A contortionist, fire eater, knife throwing, acrobatics, the whole bit. It’s awesome and tickets aren’t too pricey.”

“Oh,” Chanyeol says. “Sounds fun.”

And, goddamn it, he means it.

He’s never been to a circus before.

“Really?” The guy asks and he lights up. His eyes are wide and sparkling like a sweet bear in a storybook. “Our show’s tonight, right before sunset. Your friends will really like it, so bring them along too. Bye for now!”

The green guy runs off into the crowd towards someone and wraps his arm with theirs. Chanyeol stretches up a little taller to get a glimpse of the other person. The green guy walks away with someone who looks equally as weird. The other man has scales along his body, grey hair, and what looks like his own set of horns sticking out from the front of his face. Chanyeol blinks and loses them in the crowd.

“What the fuck?” he asks himself.

“What’s what the fuck?” Sehun asks to his side. Chanyeol jumps.

“That guy,” Chanyeol says. “Didn’t you see him?”

“No, we saw him,” Kyungsoo says. He crosses his arms in a way that shows he’s curious – Kyungsoo’s body language isn’t typical, but Sehun and Chanyeol are fluent in how he expresses himself without needing facial expressions.

“He invited me to the circus he works at,” Chanyeol tells them. “You didn’t notice anything else off about him?”

“Nope,” Sehun says. “He smelt a little funny, but he’s just another human.”

“Just another human,” Chanyeol says slowly.

“Chanyeol.” Kyungsoo grabs Chanyeol’s bicep and squeezes slightly. “What’re you not telling us.”

Chanyeol’s eyes look over Kyungsoo’s head in the direction the green guy went. Nothing is making sense right now, but he can’t keep anything from his pack. Even if it makes them think he’s nuts. Not that they don’t already.

“He was an Oni,” Chanyeol says. “Or…or he was dressed as one. He had green skin, the horns, and the giant teeth.”

“No, he didn’t,” Sehun says, exasperatedly. “Dude, you’ve finally tipped over the edge into Crazy Town.”

Chanyeol groans and presses his palms into his eyes. A human father and his kids push past them, and Kyungsoo has the sense to pull them away from the middle of the sidewalk. Chanyeol leans against the rough brick wall. Maybe he _has_ found his way to Crazy Town.

“He looked like a normal human to me,” Kyungsoo says. “But, as Sehun said, he smelt odd. Mostly, he smelt like human, y’know, fleshy and bland, but underneath I could smell iron and something else.”

“What are you saying?” Chanyeol asks. Sehun nods rapidly next to him, confused.

Kyungsoo stands straighter and licks his canines. “I think we should check out that circus. With what you saw, and we smelt, there’s a chance that guy was actually an Oni. A puny Oni, but still an Oni. He must’ve had magic put on him to change his appearance.”

“And where there’s magic,” Sehun says. He grins the feral grin only Wolves are capable of. “There’s a Warlock.”

They head back to camp, dropping off their incomplete list of supplies. It seems they might be staying a bit longer. Chanyeol straps his butterfly sword to his hip, hidden underneath his coat, and grabs a few vials in case he needs to heal a bad wound on the spot. They have a few hours till sunset, which is when the maybe-Oni said the circus show would start.

The problem is, he never told Chanyeol where it is.

“We’ll head back into town,” Kyungsoo says. He has his Alpha voice on – the no-nonsense, stern one that makes Chanyeol want to tease him more than it makes him want to obey him. “Find out where the circus is and figure out, for sure, if there’s a Warlock in town.”

“What if the Warlock isn’t the one we’re looking for?” Chanyeol asks.

“Either way, it’s a Warlock,” Sehun says dryly. “He’ll have answers of some kind. Maybe he knows where the Warlock who killed Alpha Do is, and if not, he’ll at least be able to tell us why you could see the Oni’s true form and we couldn’t.”

“Right,” Chanyeol says. “That was weird, huh?”

“Incredibly,” Sehun says. “I’m still betting that you’ve gone mad and we’ll have to lock you away. Maybe they’ll electrocute you like humans are rumored to do to their crazies.”

“Sehun,” Kyungsoo says warningly, but his shoulders are relaxed. Chanyeol’s not sure he likes the idea that Kyungsoo finds the thought of him being electrocuted by humans funny. “Don’t push it. You smelt Oni on that guy just as much as I did.”

“Yeah,” Sehun says. He rolls his eyes. “Underneath all that gross, fleshy human smell. All I smelt was iron. The dude could be a blacksmith or a butcher.”

“Onis are blacksmiths and butchers,” Chanyeol points out.

“Both of you shut it,” Kyungsoo says. “Let’s just go.”


	2. Act 2.

Act 2.

The Circus of the Stars originally began as a cover for a supernatural safe haven to travel without suspicion. However, after years of putting on shows and practicing new acts, the Circus became more than just a cover. If someone fakes something for long enough, it becomes a part of them. The Circus is no exception. The performers put their all into each show – Baekhyun thinks they’re all developing praise kinks from the applause. Even the tempies (the creatures staying at the camp temporarily who pay their dues by helping around the Circus) take each show very seriously.

Everyone scrambles around the campground, running between the Big Top and Suho’s tent, during the prep hours before the show starts. The humans often show up early, and, despite fifteen years of practice, no one at the Circus ever gives themselves enough time to do what they need to.

It’s an hour before the show and there’s already a line forming outside the Big Top.

Inside, chaos.

Baekhyun’s up above on the platform he and Jongdae use to get to their trapeze swings, watching everyone yell at each other and struggle to find their costumes. Usually, he’s the first one ready, despite all the newcomers who think he’s going to be the worst one they have to work with. He’ll never understand why they see him as a slacker. Just because he doesn’t work hard doesn’t mean he doesn’t work smart.

And working smart means getting ready early and climbing the ladder up and up so he doesn’t get trampled by Jongin as he tries to find Suho to get his glamour. Jongin doesn’t like the way a glamour feels on his skin, says it’s stifling and slimy, so he leaves it till the last minute and usually that means right before a human can spot him. Jongin’s tail, thin and black with a sharp tip, is sticking up straight with stress, and Baekhyun should probably tell him where Suho is.

“Ah,” Jongin exclaims as he spots Suho fixing his top hat by the stands. “Suho! Glamour!”

Baekhyun leans back and snorts. “He’s so cute,” he says.

“Isn’t he? I never would’ve thought an Incubus could be so adorable,” Hyejin says over Baekhyun’s shoulder. Baekhyun tries not to flinch, and by that he flinches so hard he almost falls off the platform. Hyejin catches him by the mock neck of his leotard and holds him till he’s steady. “Sorry, didn’t mean to scare you,” she says.

“It’s fine,” Baekhyun says. He waves a hand in front of his face. “I should’ve known you’d be up here.”

Hyejin doesn’t glamour often, her giant spider-like lower half is hard for Suho to mask and maintain, so she’s taken charge of the lighting, staying high above in the rafters and crawling unseen amongst the dark, star-covered ceiling.

She smiles, blinking first her larger pitch-black eyes then the small pair where her eyebrows would be if she were human, and finally the tiny eyes near her temples. “You should’ve, but spiders are good at appearing out of nowhere,” she says in a voice that makes it sound oddly threatening.

“One of your many talents,” Baekhyun teases.

“Oh, shut up,” Hyejin says with a roll of all six eyes, though it’s hard to tell when she doesn’t have a defined iris or pupil. “I think Suho wants you.”

“Huh?” Baekhyun looks down and Suho’s at the edge of the performance ring, waving up at him. He waves at Hyejin, knowing he’ll see her later at some point during the show, and swings himself down the ladder.

“I need you to help Soonyoung out with sales,” Suho says. Baekhyun groans. “I know you hate it, but Jeonghan’s having a hard time getting his snakes to calm down enough for me to glamour them. I can’t have a Gorgon out there looking like, well, a Gorgon.”

“Fine,” Baekhyun says. “You owe me.”

Suho smiles sweetly. “Is your daily protection, shelter, and food enough?”

Baekhyun hums in thought, tilting his head and tapping his chin. “Nope,” he says with a grin.

“Okay,” Suho says. “How about I throw in the never-ending patience that keeps me from tossing you over the barrier line and into the hands of whoever may want to kill you now?”

“Deal.” Baekhyun sticks his hand out and Suho shakes it.

Soonyoung is swamped. Their shows are popular – mostly thanks to Jongdae’s alluring voice – and having a line isn’t unusual, but it’s still a good half-hour till the show and there are so many humans outside the Big Top, Baekhyun can’t see where they end.

“Oh, thank god,” Soonyoung says as soon as he spots Baekhyun. “Please help me.”

Baekhyun takes Jeonghan’s usual spot next to Soonyoung at the ticket booth. “If you’re a demon,” Baekhyun says under his breath to Soonyoung. “Are you allowed to say that?”

Before Soonyoung can answer a woman with her many, many kids demand his attention. They sell a solid chunk of tickets and the crowd thins for a bit so Soonyoung can scoot his chair closer and whisper.

“Depends on how you define god,” Soonyoung says. It sounds profound, but he ruins it by adding, “I just say it because I spend too much time around Jongdae and these damn… _customers_.”

Baekhyun’s laugh turns into a wheeze as a customer glares at Soonyoung. It’s the type of glare that means Suho’s going to hear about how unfriendly his greeters are. They’re lucky he kept himself from saying humans or there would be a bigger problem than a few complaints.

“Excuse me,” a deep voice says in front of Baekhyun. He looks up to see a guy with a shaved head and eyes rounder than the glasses he’s wearing.

Baekhyun flashes his best show-biz smile. “Hi there,” Baekhyun says. “You here for the show?”

The man hums, his vocal cords vibrate so deeply that Baekhyun mistakes it for a growl at first. Baekhyun looks over the guy’s shoulder to his two, very tall friends behind him.

“How many tickets?” Baekhyun asks.

“Three,” the short guy says.

His words are short and precise, meaning he probably isn’t fluent in Italian. Baekhyun tells him the price, holding up his fingers just in case. He might not know what it’s like to struggle with a foreign language – He’s lucky he’s capable of speaking whatever language the people around him are speaking. Demons and Fae are similar that way. – but he’s sympathetic.

The guy turns to his left, towards the tallest of his friends with the floppy black hair, and puts his palm out. The tall friend isn’t paying attention to him, though, since he’s staring at Baekhyun. Baekhyun’s heart skips a beat – he’s _hot._ His eyes don’t match, one a vibrant blue and the other dark as the night sky, and his face is ten times sexier with the horizontal scar over his nose and another one, crooked and jagged, through his eyebrow. He seems to focus and realize Baekhyun’s staring back while his friend waits, expectantly, and fumbles. He reaches deep into his jacket pocket to hand over a few crumpled bills and coins. Baekhyun takes the money with a soft smile and hands them over their tickets.

“Make sure you hang on to these,” Baekhyun says, pointing to the tickets. “You won’t be able to get in without them.”

The short guy nods, seeming to understand and hands the other tickets to his friends while repeating what Baekhyun said in Korean. Baekhyun lights up.

“You’re Korean?” Baekhyun asks excitedly. It’s been so long since he’s met humans who speak his native language. The three friends look at him in shock.

“We are,” the short guy says, stiffly.

His friends don’t seem to share his hesitation. The one with hazel hair and eyes – odd for a Korean, but Baekhyun’s seen weirder – practically bounces up to Baekhyun. His expression had been so bored, but now he looks like a little kid being offered candy.

“Your Korean is great,” the guy says. “I’m Sehun.” He points to the short guy and then the yummy one. “That’s Kyungsoo and Chanyeol. Were you born in Korea?”

“I was,” Baekhyun says, chuckling softly in surprise. “I’m Baekhyun.”

“How long have you worked at the Circus?” Sehun asks. “Is it fun?”

“I’ve been here almost fifteen years,” Baekhyun says. Chanyeol whistles lowly behind Sehun. Baekhyun focuses on him, and Chanyeol flushes. His cute stick-out ears turn bright red.

“That’s a long time,” Chanyeol mutters.

“It is,” Baekhyun agrees. “Luckily, I’m a performer. I would’ve left a long time ago if I was just selling tickets.”

Soonyoung snorts. Baekhyun winks at him.

“You look more like a performer,” Sehun says. He motions to his own face. “Y’know with all the…”

Baekhyun touches underneath his eyes in confusion. His fingers rub over the gemstones tacked along his cheekbones. He forgot he had his stage makeup on. Jongdae and he have matching uniforms for their acts – a black bodysuit covering every part of them except their hands and their toes – but they like to wear different makeup. He wears dark eyeshadow with a deep maroon on his lips and gemstones under his eyes. It gives him an alluring, sensual look that draws the audience into the mood of his act, and it’s only heightened by his naturally blue eyes.

“I forgot I had it on,” Baekhyun says with a laugh.

“Well, as fun as this has been,” Kyungsoo says, stepping between Sehun and the ticket table. “We should go find our seats.”

“Nice to meet you all,” Baekhyun says and he means it. Kyungsoo nods curtly and guides his friends away.

Baekhyun goes back to selling tickets but chances another glimpse at the trio as they walk away. Chanyeol’s staring at him and Soonyoung over his shoulder. Baekhyun smiles when he catches his eye. Chanyeol looks away quickly, and it stings. Baekhyun shakes off his disappointment. He forgets how touchy humans can be about gender and sexuality.

“They’re not human, y’know,” Soonyoung says casually. Baekhyun drops the money in his hands.

“What?” he asks, whispering like Soonyoung should’ve and didn’t.

“Those three.” Soonyoung wrinkles his nose. “They smelt like dog. Well, the short guy with the glasses and the bored-looking one did. I’m not sure about the tall one.”

Baekhyun gives an old woman and her grandson their tickets. He smiles sweetly at them as he watches them walk out of earshot.

“What do you mean you’re not sure about Chanyeol?”

“You’re good at remembering names,” Soonyoung points out. Baekhyun glares, a hint for him to answer his question. Soonyoung shakes his head and shrugs. “ _Chanyeol_ smelt like the other two, like dog, but he didn’t smell unique.”

Baekhyun forgets Soonyoung serves an actual purpose.

He’s a Nekomata, a cat demon, or more specifically a _tiger_ demon in his case, and his keen sense of smell is why Suho has him working the ticket booth. He’s basically their first line of defense, checking each customer and separating the supernatural from the human, and informing Suho of anyone weird.

“He didn’t smell unique?” Baekhyun’s confused. He doesn’t have sharp senses nor can he really tell if someone’s supernatural unless it’s really obvious. Creatures like Wolves in their human forms, shapeshifters like Soonyoung, or magic users aren’t obvious.

“Yeah. The other two smelt overall like dogs, but they smelt like two different, separate dogs. Chanyeol smelt like both of them and that’s it. He didn’t smell like human and he didn’t smell like his own dog.”

It doesn’t make sense, but Baekhyun gets it.

“Are you going to tell Suho?” he asks.

“Oh, trust me,” Soonyoung says. “Suho already knows.”

“Aren’t you supposed to tell him about what’s coming into the camp?”

“No,” Soonyoung says with a scoff. “I’m just the first line of defense. If a Warlock or Witch or some other creature with ill intent walks up to me, I can tell and then I attack. Duh.”

“So, those three didn’t have ill intent?” Baekhyun asks.

“Not especially,” Soonyoung says. “They seem to be really cautious and curious, but I didn’t feel a murder vibe coming off of them.”

“Cool,” Baekhyun says. He looks behind him and over the heads of humans towards the Big Top entrance. “Very cool.”

Jeonghan’s heading over to them, his head of venomous snakes now glamoured as long, luxurious, brown hair. He’s smiling widely, looking as beautiful as ever, and points to Baekhyun then to the tent.

“Guess my shift’s over,” Baekhyun says. Soonyoung pats him on the shoulder.

“Break a leg,” he says with a Cheshire grin.

Baekhyun snorts. “Thanks.”

The crowd’s in their seats. The air, buzzing with excited whispers, smells like popcorn, sour candy, and caramel. Baekhyun’s above the performance ring, mostly hidden by shadow, on his platform while Jongdae sits cross-legged on the other one opposite him. Suho steps out of the small attached tent towards the back of the performance area where the others hang out before and after their acts and signals up to them. Jongdae’s begins to sing softly under his breath, it’s quiet enough to not cause everyone to get out of their seats and clamor to find him, but it catches their attention, pulling their eyes away from each other and towards Suho as he steps into the ring.

Suho lifts his hands in the air and Hyejin, from somewhere in the rafting, focuses the spotlight on him. The Big Top falls into complete darkness beside the light around Suho. The netting underneath the platforms to catch Baekhyun and Jongdae if they fall casts a faint grid shadow on Suho. He looks the part of a ringleader, for sure, in a fitted maroon suit with a black shirt, black tie, black oxfords, and a black top-hat. What sets him apart from the typical circus leader is the red velvet cloak around his shoulders. It’s decorated with black floral needlework and. unbeknownst to the audience, Suho never takes it off. The inside is stitched with runes, spells, and charms to mask his magical presence. It’s usually black, but he enchants it to red for the shows.

After the first few shows Baekhyun worked years ago, he thought Suho looked too plain and decided to paint Suho’s lips a sinister black, with the corners exaggerated and pointed upwards. It’s creepy, it’s sexy, and it stuck. Now Suho paints his lips that way before every show and the crowd eats it up.

“Welcome, my friends,” Suho says, voice projecting in an unnatural way. “To the Circus of the Stars. I’m your host, your ringleader, and the creator of this lovely show.”

Scattered applause rises from the audience.

“Tonight, you will be in awe as you watch our performers display their unique abilities across a variety of acts. We have quite the odd selection here, folks. I hope you’re prepared. If you’re afraid of knives or fire or bending the body in ways that shouldn’t be possible, you might want to leave. Or maybe the idea of fear excites you, I’m not one to judge.”

Laughter. Suho’s eyes crinkle with pride. Baekhyun rolls his eyes, Suho loves when people laugh at his jokes, and sometimes Baekhyun thinks that’s the real reason he created the Circus. Now he has an excuse to tell bad jokes to a fresh audience that will pay attention to him, unlike Baekhyun and everyone else at the camp.

Suho continues on with his introduction speech, Jongdae singing gentle background music to entrance the audience, but Baekhyun tunes out. He’s heard it once; he’s heard it a bajillion times. His eyes fall to the audience and he finds Chanyeol with his two Wolf friends immediately. They’re sitting in the middle of the stands, directly facing the performance ring. Chanyeol’s leaning forward with his elbows on his knees and his hands over his mouth. He looks completely entranced like a little kid.

“Adorable,” Baekhyun says to himself.

Chanyeol’s friends don’t look very interested in Suho, at least not as obviously as Chanyeol. Kyungsoo’s face is tight and blank, but his eyes keep darting around the room like he’s mapping out the Big Top. Baekhyun thinks that silly because it’s literally just a tent, it’s round and the walls are made of fabric the guy could easily go under. Sehun’s leaning against Chanyeol, watching Suho with narrowed, almost closed eyes like he’s falling asleep.

Everyone claps and Baekhyun’s eyes fly to Suho. He has his arms extended above him and that means it’s almost their cue.

“Now, I’ll leave you in the capable hands of our first performers,” Suho says, stepping backward out of the ring. “Don’t forget about me, though. I’ll be back.”

Baekhyun pulls himself to his feet and unhooks his swing. He takes a deep breath and lets a flirtatious smile curl his lips. A drumroll builds up through the tent – the humans might think it’s from a band they can’t see in the dark, but it’s actually one of Suho’s many magical sound effects – and Hyejin focuses two blue spotlights on Jongdae and Baekhyun. The lights reflect off the glitter crawling down Jongdae’s cheeks like tears.

Baekhyun waves to the crowd and faces Jongdae. His heart’s pounding. No matter how often he does this, the first jump off the platform always sets his adrenaline to high. Jongdae sits on his swing, facing away from Baekhyun, and pushes off the platform. He sets up a pace, pumping his legs like a kid swinging at a playground. Baekhyun watches him pick up speed before grabbing hold of his own swing and jumping. He spreads his legs wide, lifting them up and over his head. At the same time, Jongdae wraps his knees around the swing and falls backward. As they meet towards the middle, both upside-down, Baekhyun releases his swing, freefalling till he catches Jongdae’s hands. They swing back and forth before Baekhyun can twist up into the air and catch hold of his swing.

They do this a few different ways, Jongdae being Baekhyun’s rock as Baekhyun spins and flips in the air. He catches him every time, sometimes by his feet and Jongdae always complains after the show that Baekhyun’s feet smell. His mother was a _tree spirit_. He doesn’t have sweat glands.

Before they switch places, halfway through their act, Baekhyun has one last trick to do. He takes a deep breath on the platform, waiting for Jongdae to fall back on his swing and signal he’s ready. Once he does, Baekhyun grabs onto his swing again, falling out and letting go before he normally would so he can do a triple flip in the air and as he’s coming down, he barely manages to grab Jongdae’s arms.

“Good one,” Jongdae says to him as they swing.

“It went better than it did in practice,” Baekhyun says breathlessly before he lets go and reaches for his own swing again.

This time, he’s the one sitting backward on the swing, building up speed. He’s never been to a human park, but Nana Irene had an old swing set in her backyard. He used to swing as high as he could, imaging that when he let go, he would fly up to the sky and out into orbit. This part of the performance gives him the same feeling, especially because most of what he sees is the Big Top’s starry ceiling. If he squints, he can see the Hercules constellation. The big, ugly spider looking one.

He falls backward, feeling his head rush, and then Jongdae’s palms are in his own.

The rest of their act goes by a lot faster when Baekhyun’s the one doing the catching. He and Jongdae do some fancy leg work and bow dramatically. The crowd’s cheers are thunderous. Baekhyun’s still grinning and his ears are still ringing by the time he and Jongdae make it to the back room. Suho’s cracks another joke behind them as Jongdae pushes back the flap to the attached tent.

The room is enchanted like their sleeping tents to be bigger than it appears. There’s a fully equipped bathroom, kitchen, and a few squishy couches. Baekhyun collapses on the cushions next to Minseok. The Oni wraps his arm around Baekhyun’s shoulder and squeezes.

“Great job, Baek,” he says. “I saw that triple flip. I’m really impressed.”

Yixing agrees. “Is this the first time you’ve landed it?” he asks.

Baekhyun hums. “I’ve been falling to the net for weeks.”

“He barely managed to grab onto me tonight,” Jongdae teases. Baekhyun throws a pillow at him.

Minseok laughs. “Well, as much fun as teasing Baekhyun sounds, I’m on next.”

Baekhyun groans as Minseok pushes him off and stands to leave, fixing the red Kabuki mask resting on the side of his head. Before he leaves for the ring, Minseok turns around towards his friends and flexes. He’s the strongman act –easy for an Oni– which means he performs shirtless. It’s really a blessing and Baekhyun traces Minseok’s abs with his eyes as his friend winks. He turns to walk away and they all watch him. His maroon stretchy pants cling to his thigh muscles and each step jingles the bells on the golden tassels tied around his biceps and ankles.

“I hate to see him leave,” Baekhyun starts.

“But I love to watch him go,” Jongdae finishes.

“You guys are gross,” Jongin says.

Baekhyun can’t resist. He sits up, presses his hands together, and points them towards Jongin. Jongin squirms in his seat, looking anywhere but Baekhyun.

“You’re literally a _sex_ demon,” Baekhyun says. “You’re literally wearing skin-tight clothes and have gold tinsel in your hair.”

For an Incubus, Jongin’s always been really shy. Suho takes full advantage of their performances to dress Jongin in something other than argyle sweaters and baggy jeans. His costume is a bright red, tight muscle shirt that clings to his abs and pectorals, maroon leggings, and a golden sash around his waist. His hair is mussed sexily with golden tinsel tied into it that Baekhyun and Jongdae spent hours on. He also has thin golden bracelets and anklets with singular bells because they make soft, beautiful sounds with each movement during his contortionist act.

“W-what’s your point?” Jongin says. “Doesn’t mean I can’t think you guys are gross.”

“He’s got a point,” Yixing says.

Yixing’s their dragon.

Well, not a full-blooded dragon, but the closest to a dragon anyone’s seen in centuries. He’s half-human, and he refuses to tell Baekhyun how his dragon father impregnated his human mother. Because really, it doesn’t make sense in Baekhyun’s head.

“Thank you,” Jongin says, throwing his hands in the air. “Finally, someone understands.”

“It _is_ crazy that you somehow manage to go against all your genetic programming though,” Yixing says with a smile. His face is normally so soft when he smiles with his dimple and dazed eyes, but his performance makeup makes it look threatening.

Dragons are notoriously hard to cast magic on, which why only the magic-less humans ever managed to cause harm to them, and Yixing is no exception. Suho spends a copious amount of time on Yixing’s glamours when he has to leave the camp and it leaves him drained. They decided it's best for Yixing to use normal methods to hide what he can. Yixing hides the slate grey scales crawling up his face with white face paint, painting red and black lines over his eyes and eyebrows, down the sides of his nose, and applies bright red to his lips. 

Baekhyun thinks Yixing’s performance costume is the sexiest, despite how simple it is. He wraps cloth bandages around him from his hips to above his bellybutton, from his shoulders to biceps, and also his hands to hide the scales protecting his joints and vital organs. The rest of his stage costume is fairly simple, loose black pants with flame decals, a maroon vest opened over his bare chest with golden lining and a holster for his knives around his waist.

Other than that, for shows, Suho glamours Yixing’s horns – the little pair above his eyebrows and the larger set sprouting from his temples – and his eyes which are yellow with slitted pupils. They let him keep his claws and his naturally grey hair as both can pass for stage flair.

“Guys,” Jongdae says.

He’s standing at the opening into the Big Top, peering through like a peeper in the girls’ bathroom. Baekhyun didn’t notice him move. Jongin gets up immediately and rushes to stand next to him, obviously relieved at the opportunity to leave the conversation. Baekhyun squints at him but decides to let Jongin have it. This time.

“Woah,” Jongin says, leaning over Jongdae’s shoulder.

Baekhyun’s curiosity has him looking under Jongdae’s arm before he registers his body moving. Somehow, someway –Baekhyun suspects blackmail– Minseok convinced Suho to let him carry him. Well, not carry him, more like bodily lift him up and hoist Suho up over his head. Suho’s face is bright red, but he’s keeping his composure. He’s on his side, posed in the air with one hand under his head, and another on his hip as Minseok holds his ribs and legs.

“I love the Circus,” Baekhyun says breathlessly.

If the sound of shifting fabric and hair is what he thinks it is, the others are nodding in agreement. None of them can pull their eyes away.

The rest of Minseok’s act goes as it usually does. He usually starts off light, with a few weights that Jongdae could lift, and steadily moving his way upwards. In this act, he replaced his one-hundred-and-forty-pound barbell with Suho. He went back to his barbell, adding weights till he couldn’t anymore, then he began lifting the heavy things they keep around the performance ring for his act. He lifts an anvil, an anchor, a big tire, and other boring things. Baekhyun’s never found his act very interesting. It’d be cooler if Minseok could lift living things like a lion or an elephant. Suho says that’s too suspicious and comical, Minseok says there’s no way he could lift an elephant. Baekhyun argues he’ll never know till he tries.

Finally, as Minseok’s rolling a very large tire out of the ring, it’s time for Jongin’s act. Suho steps into the ring again, announcing the next act and giving Soonyoung time to move a raised stage into the ring.

Jongin doesn’t wait for Minseok to close the flap behind him, and steps out into the Big Top with his feet in the first ballet position. His act always starts as soon as he leaves the break area which means he stands there in the dark before Hyejin focuses the spotlight on him and illuminates the gold and red of his outfit.

The light glitters off the tinsel in Jongin’s hair – Baekhyun and Jongdae high-five on hard work well done – as Jongin sets up through first, second, third, fourth, and fifth position, moving his feet in graceful movements as classical music plays in the background. He sashays forward, doing chaînés, pirouettes, whipping turns, and perfectly executed attitudes – Baekhyun didn’t know the name of any of these moves until Jongin patiently explained each one.

As Jongin gets closer to the ring his movements grow jerkier and the music glitches. The violin stutters and screeches, the piano keys fumble, and a deep bass makes its way into the song. He gets to the middle of the ring, stumbles up the stairs of his stage, and collapses. The bells on his jewelry are a soft jingle underneath the music. Purity in the chaos.

The music really changes now, transforming into a funky version of the pristine ballet music he danced to in the opening. The lights change too. Hyejin focuses a purple spotlight on Jongin as well as the normal bright one. It makes Jongin look demonic. Which, y’know, he actually is, but the crowd doesn’t know that.

Jongin stands up, buckling his knees toward each other, he lifts his arms into the air like he’s clawing for purchase on the stars, and bends backward. He bends further, further, and further till he’s folded himself in half, his hands resting flat on the floor. He tucks his head underneath his bottom, between his legs, and stares out into the audience.

Humans gasp and cover their mouths.

Baekhyun bets that Jongin smiled at them. That sexy smile that reveals his true nature as an Incubus more than anything else about him does. It’s a wicked smile. Sin in its physical form. But Jongin only smiles that way when he’s on a stage.

Jongin, still folded underneath himself, rests his forearms on the stage, and slowly lifts one leg off the floor and straight into the air. He bends it and straightens it out to the side as his other leg lifts and bends. When both legs are straight out to the side, making a V, Jongin raises up onto his hands. He does a handstand with both legs in a vertical line before slowly lowering himself down again. He curls his ankles and wraps them around his biceps.

The violins coming from Suho’s enchantments screech again.

Jongin untangles himself. He does the splits with his head still tucked underneath his legs, then rolls so his head lifts up and his back untwists. He stands without using his hands and does more ballet, but stylized with hip-hop and popping. Jongin loves to dance and it’s this love that makes his contortionist act unique and unlike anything any of the humans (and Wolves) in the audience have seen before.

Jongin spins rapidly, drawing his arms in close to his chest, and lets himself fall to the stage floor again. He sits upright on the stage, his legs behind him like a mermaid tail, and he reaches with his hands to pull his feet next to his face so his stomach is now supporting him as he bends in half. He does a few twists like this, legs bent or straight, touching his feet to the ground, the top of his head, his back.

The rest of his act is a mix of dance and contortionism and he never repeats a move. He finishes by reducing the variety in his choreography to the pure ballet he started with. Hyejin turns off the purple spotlight. The music finds the right beat and key, settling into some gentle classical with piano, violin, and flute. Jongin finishes with a flourish and bows. He stands as the crowd roars with applause and smiles that cute, sweet smile Baekhyun knows will throw the audience for a loop.

Suho’s out in the ring as Jongin rushes back to the break area. Everyone attacks him with praise and backslaps. Jongin winces, but the smile never leaves his face.

“I love the Circus,” Jongin says, repeating what Baekhyun said earlier, but it has a whole different meaning this time.

Everyone who comes to the Circus of the Stars, no matter how long they stay, falls in love with it. From guests to tempies, to the five permanent performers. The Circus settles itself into a corner of their hearts and stays there forever. The ones that stay for a long time, forever if possible, become a part of the Circus. Performing is hard at first, it’s nerve-wracking and scary, but they’ve all fallen in love with it. The ring in the middle of the Big Top becomes a place where they are untouchable, the focus of everyone in the tent, and they thrive there. The creatures who stay with them become their family, even if it’s only for a short while. They _love_ the Circus.

“Alright,” Yixing says. Baekhyun hears the laughter outside die down and the drumroll build. “That’s my cue.”

He gives them a two-finger salute and throws open the flaps into the Big Top.

Yixing’s act is the most chaotic out of the five of them. He’s the only one who does two, very different, things during his act. He’s a knife thrower as well as a fire eater. Soonyoung sets up the ring with weirdly placed targets to test Yixing’s aim. There are targets set up high near the trapeze, hanging from the rafters at different heights, and a large target in the middle of the ring that Yixing likes to throw knives at blindfolded. Once Yixing has hit every target, Soonyoung walks around the Big Top holding one so Yixing can chuck knives towards the audience and scare the pants off them. Lalisa leaves the snack stand, changing into a slinky black dress, to stand in front of the large target so Yixing can throw knives around her body and limbs.

The screams from the audience are awesome.

That’s only the first half of his act, though.

After the knives are all thrown, Yixing switches to eating fire. Baekhyun thinks this part of his act is unfair because it’s literally just Yixing’s dinner. He’s putting on a flaming mukbang for the audience without them even knowing. As a dragon-descendant, Yixing’s diet consists of flames and red-hot charcoal. He’s hot to the touch, steaming sometimes, and the fire in his lungs can burn so brightly they can be seen through the skin of his chest. He can breathe fire, and often lights the campfire in the morning, but he can’t eat his own flames. This is why this part of Yixing’s act is a big treat for him, literally.

Lalisa relieves Soonyoung as the ring-hand, she walks around in high heels, lighting torches for Yixing to swallow. He juggles with the flaming torches and then with hot coals. It’s all very fancy and requires a lot of hand-eye coordination, but Baekhyun stands by that it’s just a mukbang and totally unfair.

With one last flaming torch tossed in the air and the fire sucked off of it and into Yixing’s full belly, the act ends. Suho comes out on the stage, his black top hat tilted over his brow.

“And that, my friends, was our fire-eater! Wish him luck, I hear he gets horrible acid reflux,” Suho says as Yixing leaves the ring. Yixing throws his head back and laughs loudly. “Our show is almost, everyone. We have one more act for you before you leave the Circus of the Stars.”

Behind him, in the dark, Jongdae and Baekhyun rush to their spots in the middle of the ring. Hyejin drops their silks from above. Jongdae’s are a gradient of sea blues while Baekhyun’s are the pastel rainbow of a tulip field. They kneel between the silks, still in sight of the audience.

“You’ve seen them before from below, but isn’t it fitting to end our show with the same performers who started it?” Suho asks the audience. They holler and whistle in response. “Thank you for coming to the Circus of the Stars. Ciao!”

The spotlight on him cuts out. He leaves the ring and then Hyejin rests two gentle spotlights on Jongdae and Baekhyun. The diamonds and glitter on their face shine brighter under the soft light more than they did when they were on the trapeze.

Baekhyun and Jongdae stand in unison, grabbing onto their silks and climbing up a couple of feet. As their legs dangle in empty air, held up by only their hands, they flip upwards, legs spread wide. They wrap their arms into the silks and kick their legs out in graceful movements similar to the beginning and end of Jongin’s act. Aerial silk is a delicate dance, not unlike ballet.

Jongdae and Baekhyun climb higher up the silks by flipping head over heels over and over till they’re close to the trapeze platforms. Their arms are wrapped tightly in fabric and their legs hang freely in the air. They flip over, pointing their legs, twirling them around the silks, and posing for the audience. Everything has been in unison so far, but that changes as Jongdae slips down below Baekhyun. Then they fall in sync again. They unwrap their arms from the silk, holding on with their feet and hands as they reach out in opposite directions. With a twirl, they reach out to the audience. Baekhyun’s eyes search the audience for those few seconds, and he spots Chanyeol and his Wolf friends. Chanyeol’s mismatched eyes are wide and focused on Baekhyun. His face is bathed in the reflection of the stage lights and it erases the scars from his face, leaving only the softness of his cheeks and the sharpness of his jaw.

Baekhyun and Jongdae flip backward, legs over their heads, and wrap a single leg into the fabric so they can release their hands and stretch out on their backs towards the audience again. Baekhyun catches Chanyeol’s eyes, focusing in on him now and when he’s sure Chanyeol’s noticed, he winks. Chanyeol gapes. Kyungsoo turns to him at that moment, looks between Baekhyun high above them and Chanyeol, and closes Chanyeol’s mouth with a smack under his chin.

Baekhyun snorts and focuses on climbing higher. Jongdae’s climbing up too, he’s lower though so Baekhyun does a few extra flips to give him time to catch up. When Jongdae’s at the same height they roll up, wrapping the silks around their middle. They pause to pose, putting their hands to their foreheads and stretching back to grab onto their feet. Jongdae nods his chin at Baekhyun and they secure their silks around their thighs and calves. They pose again before flinging themselves back and the silk around their abdomen unfurls rapidly. They land a few feet about the ground, caught by their legs, upside down with their arms out.

Jongdae climbs higher as Baekhyun stays down this time. They wrap their ankles and do splits in midair between the two strands of their own silks. They continue this pattern, twisting and unfurling, flipping and climbing, swinging and swaying, at different heights till the music begins to fade. With one last twirl, their feet touch the ground.

The audience claps as Jongdae and Baekhyun meet in the middle to bow, Hyejin pulling their silks up to where they stay in the rafters. The rest of the Circus, Suho, Minseok, Jongin, Yixing, even Soonyoung, Lalisa, and Jonghyun, join them in the ring, and they all bow. The humans whistle, tossing popcorn and candy into the ring. They always do that, no matter where the Circus performs, and Baekhyun finds it endearing. Humans are horrible, awful creatures, but they can be cute sometimes.

As Hyejin turns on the lights in the Big Top, so the audience can see and make their way out, Baekhyun finds Chanyeol and his friends in the crowd again. Kyungsoo’s flicking his eyes about suspiciously again, but Baekhyun doesn’t pay him any mind. If Soonyoung doesn’t say they’re a threat, they aren’t a threat. Chanyeol smiles softly at Baekhyun and Baekhyun wiggles his fingers at him. Chanyeol’s ears turn pink. Sehun splays himself across Chanyeol’s shoulders and waves back to Baekhyun, whispering something to Chanyeol that makes his ears turn red.

The trio doesn’t stop, however, despite Baekhyun thinking – hoping – they would. Kyungsoo grabs his friends by the elbows and drags them after the crowd of humans. Sehun seems to protest but shuts up as soon as Kyungsoo snaps something to him.

“He must be the Alpha,” Soonyoung says in Baekhyun’s ear.

Baekhyun jumps.

“What?”

“The Alpha,” Soonyoung repeats. “Y’know, the leader of a Wolf pack.”

“Oh,” Baekhyun says. “So, they follow all of his orders?”

Soonyoung shrugs. “Maybe. I wouldn’t know, I’m not a Wolf.”

“Who’s not a Wolf?” Suho asks, walking up and resting his elbow on Baekhyun’s shoulder.

“Soonyoung,” Baekhyun says. “We were talking about the Wolves that came to the show tonight.”

“Ah, yes,” Suho says. “Those two had very interesting energies. I sensed them as soon as they passed the first barrier line.”

“Two?” Baekhyun asks. He looks at Soonyoung and Soonyoung shrugs.

“I told you he smelt weird,” Soonyoung says.

“Who smelled weird?”

“The third Wolf,” Baekhyun says.

Suho frowns. It looks funny with the upturned corners painted onto his lips. “There wasn’t a third Wolf. There were only two.”

“No,” Baekhyun says. “There were three.”

Suho whirls on Soonyoung, pointing a finger to Soonyoung’s nose. “This is supposed to be our first line of defense, why didn’t you inform me of a weird-smelling Wolf?” he asks, demands.

“I figured you’d sense him,” Soonyoung says, not flinching under Suho’s glare at all. Baekhyun’s jealous of that ability. “He’s probably just a human hanging out with Wolves. They didn’t have any harmful intentions.”

“Jeonghan,” Suho calls over his shoulder. Jeonghan walks over, his long hair swaying with every step.

“Yes, boss?”

“How many tickets did we sell?” Suho asks.

Soonyoung gasps in outrage. “Why didn’t you just ask me?”

“Because you don’t know,” Suho says with a sigh. “You never remember the count. Unless you do this time?”

Soonyoung shrinks back. “Fair point,” he says. “I’m just gonna go.”

“Three hundred and twelve tonight, boss,” Jeonghan says. “D’you think you can undo my glamour? They’re getting fussy.”

“I think it’s fine now,” Suho says. He mutters an incantation under his breath, his sclera turns red, pupils expanding so much his entire iris looks black, his hair floats about his head, and Jeonghan’s glamour disappears, trading silky hair for hissing snakes. “Thanks, Jeonghan.”

The Gorgon gives a thumbs up and disappears to help clean. Baekhyun looks towards the ring and snorts, instead of cleaning the tempies are playing hacky sack with Lalisa’s head. Short black hair flies through the air as Soonyoung passes her head back to her and Lalisa kicks it towards Jeonghan, a funny expression on her face.

“Why’d you ask how many tickets we sold?” Baekhyun asks, pulling his eyes away from the trio just as Hyejin snatches Lalisa’s head away with her web.

“No outsiders can enter the tent without a ticket,” Suho says. “I only sensed three hundred and nine humans and two Wolves.”

“What are you saying?” Baekhyun asks, voice tight.

“Whoever you and Soonyoung saw,” Suho says. “I never sensed him, neither did the security runes. According to my magic, he doesn’t exist.”

[ _Intermission_ ]

Chanyeol’s pacing around their campfire. Sehun’s watching him with bored eyes, but Kyungsoo’s focused on cooking their meat. Freshly caught rabbit isn’t the most tender thing in the world, but Kyungsoo’s a wizard in the kitchen (even if the kitchen is a grill rack over an open flame) and rabbit turns to butter by his hands.

“That circus is seriously weird,” Chanyeol says.

“We know,” Sehun says. “You’ve said it like eight thousand times.”

“Well, why aren’t you listening to me then?” Chanyeol asks, frustrated.

“We are listening,” Kyungsoo says. He looks up to frown at Chanyeol. “You just haven’t explained why it’s weird.”

Chanyeol stops in his tracks.

“Oh.”

“Yeah, ‘oh’” Sehun says. He scoots over to give Chanyeol room to sit on the log.

“You guys really didn’t see it?” Chanyeol asks. “None of the performers and workers looked human.”

“Are you sure?” Kyungsoo asks, he flips the rabbits over. “They looked human to me.”

“I’m sure,” Chanyeol says with no hesitation in his voice. “The strongman was the Oni I ran into earlier today, the flame eater had horns and these violet yellow eyes, the contortionist had red eyes, curled ram horns, pointed ears, and one of those demon tails, and one of the trapeze guys was all sickly pale with needle-like teeth. The ticket seller looked like a human but he had tiger-like stripes and ears and two tails.”

“What about Baekhyun?” Sehun asks.

Chanyeol chokes on his own spit.

“He, uh, he had flowers in his hair,” Chanyeol mumbles.

“Are you sure you didn’t just imagine those?” Sehun asks. “Like a kid that sees roses around his crush.”

“No,” Chanyeol snaps. “He actually had flowers growing out of his hair and he had like vines or tree branches wrapping around his arms and legs.”

“I believe you,” Kyungsoo says. He tosses a few vegetables onto the grill next to the rabbit. There’s a cast iron pot at the base of the fire, cooking rice.

“You do?” Sehun deadpans.

“You do?” Chanyeol asks eagerly, elbowing Sehun in the ribs.

“Yeah,” Kyungsoo says. “Everyone smelled weird. Sehun definitely noticed too, but underneath all the human-stench there were scents that _aren’t_ human.”

“The only one that didn’t look supernatural was the ring leader,” Chanyeol says.

“He’s the only one I can confirm was definitely supernatural,” Kyungsoo says. “He smelt electric and spicy like all magic users do.”

“So, he’s the Warlock glamouring all the creatures at the circus?” Chanyeol asks.

Kyungsoo nods. “I’d say so,” he says. “The Warlock isn’t the one we’re looking for, but he might know something. I think we should go back tomorrow morning.”

Sehun finally admits defeat and agrees.

“I’ll admit there’s something fishy going on,” he says. “But only because Soo is making us go back, otherwise I’d keep denying it to make you squirm.”

“Thanks,” Chanyeol says. “You’re such a good friend.”

Sehun laughs and Chanyeol takes this moment of weakness to push him backward off the log. Sehun hits the dirt with an ‘oof’. Chanyeol bends in half, nearly hitting the ground himself, as he cackles. Kyungsoo rolls his eyes, remaining stoic as usual, but Chanyeol swears he sees his lips twitch.

The next morning, barely an hour after sunrise, the pack leaves for the circus. The Big Top rests at the bottom of a hill and the circus campground is down further, basically hidden by the forest. Kyungsoo spotted it when they were buying tickets, but if he hadn’t been looking, they wouldn’t have noticed it at all. Almost like there was a cloak around the campground, hiding it from wandering eyes.

They walk a wide circle around the circus, Sehun at the front, Chanyeol in the middle, and Kyungsoo taking up the back. Contrary to popular thought, the Alpha stays behind the pack, letting the strongest of his lieutenants to lead. The vulnerable – in this case, it’s Chanyeol – stay protected in the middle.

The campground is made up of a cluster of gypsy tents around a fire pit. Chanyeol can hear laughter, but Kyungsoo and Sehun can hear the jokes.

Sehun stops in his tracks.

“Why did you stop?” Kyungsoo asks. Chanyeol peers over Sehun’s shoulder, but nothing is in front of him. It’s just grass and empty air. Well, maybe a few mosquitoes.

“I can’t go any further,” Sehun says, he sounds really confused. “Like I literally can’t.”

He puts his hands up in front of himself and pushes. They catch on some invisible force, and a pale red ripples out from where his hands are. Kyungsoo marches up next to Sehun, putting Chanyeol behind him, and pushes on the air too. It, unsurprisingly, doesn’t let him in either.

“Magic,” Kyungsoo says, spitting it out like a curse. “Damn Warlock.”

“That’s dumb,” Chanyeol says. He walks up the magical boundary too. “Does that mean we have to wait till-”

He should’ve stopped short, felt the magic of the barrier under his fingertips, but he doesn’t. He stumbles past Kyungsoo, Sehun, and the magical barrier and falls to his knees in the grass.

“-tonight?” He finishes pointlessly.

“Did that just happen?” Sehun asks Kyungsoo.

Chanyeol turns to look over his shoulder at Kyungsoo with wide eyes. Sehun’s face is identical, but he’s still stuck behind the magic barrier. Both Wolves are pressing against the invisible wall, red vibrating through the air as the magic works harder to keep them out.

“Yes,” Kyungsoo says like this happens to Chanyeol every day. “Now, since we can’t get in you need to go to the camp.”

“ _Me_?” Chanyeol asks. “What am I supposed to say? ‘Hey, my pack is stuck over there, they can’t get through your _protective magic_ , but I was able to. Can you just like let them in?’ _No._ ”

“Chanyeol.” Kyungsoo puts on his Alpha voice, and to make the day even weirder, Chanyeol’s spine straightens, and pays attention instead of making fun of him. “We need any information their Warlock has. If we can’t get through then it’s up to you.”

“But you never send me anywhere alone,” Chanyeol says. “I’m just human.”

Sehun snorts. “You’re far from _human_ , Yeolie.”

“You’re the son of a Witch,” Kyungsoo says. “You may not have her magic, but you have something. You’re stronger than humans, smarter, and less fragile. You’ll be fine.”

Chanyeol gulps. “Okay.”

“Okay?” Kyungsoo asks.

“Yeah,” Chanyeol says steadily. He gets to his feet and sets his shoulders. “We need to talk to their Warlock. There’s only one left on our list and then the spirits of our families can finally rest.”

“Attaboy,” Sehun says. “Good luck.”

“Thanks.”

And without looking back, Chanyeol charges forward. The barrier where Kyungsoo and Sehun are stuck isn’t that far from the camp and he’s weaving through the tents before he knows it. His longs legs are a blessing and a curse. He steps into the clearing with the fire pit and stops short.

The camp is filled with the supernatural.

He’s not surprised, he did see most of them yesterday, but it’s different seeing them in broad daylight. There are a wider variety of creatures here than Chanyeol’s ever seen in one place. Typically, the supernatural stick with their own. They don’t notice Chanyeol right away, most of them look like they’ve just woken up and are still in their PJs, but the tiger Nekomata lifts his nose in the air and sniffs. When he turns towards Chanyeol, he just blinks slowly, like he’s not sure if he’s really seeing Chanyeol or if it’s a dream. But then, his eyes widen.

“Ah!” the Nekomata shouts. His heavy tails simultaneously smack the Siren on one side of him and the Oni on the other as he jumps to his feet and points at Chanyeol.

“Woah,” the Oni says. He puts himself between the others and Chanyeol, holding his hands up in a placating manner. “How’d you get in here?”

“I need to see your Warlock,” Chanyeol says. He hopes it comes out clearly because it feels like his tongue is sticking to the roof of his mouth.

“No way, dude,” the Siren says, flashing all his needle-like teeth. “You’ll have to go through us first.”

“I just want to talk to him,” Chanyeol says. “I have a few questions.”

“Well,” the half-dragon says this time. “You haven’t answered our question. How’d you get in here?”

“That’s a question I have for your Warlock.” Chanyeol motions behind him to Kyungsoo and Sehun growling and pacing, still stuck behind the magic. “I could get through your barrier like it didn’t exist, but my pack couldn’t.”

“You only have questions?” the Oni asks.

“Yes.”

“You’re not an assassin hired to kill our beloved Suho, are you?” the Siren asks.

Chanyeol rolls his eyes. He feels himself relax slightly. “If I was, why would I let you know I was here at all?”

“Good point,” the Siren says. The Geomi – a woman with the lower half of a giant spider that Chanyeol didn’t see last night – punches him in the shoulder. “Ow! What? I’m just saying!”

“What’s going on out here?” the familiar voice of the Warlock, Suho, asks.

He’s standing in the entrance to his tent, the same heavy cloak from last night, now pitch black, wrapped around his shoulders, but underneath he’s wearing a wrinkled button-down and jeans. Baekhyun pokes his flower-covered head out next to him. Chanyeol’s gut twists. He noticed he wasn’t with the others, but he didn’t think he’d be in the ringleader’s tent. Not that it matters, Chanyeol thinks. He doesn’t know the guy and he’ll never know the guy. He’s here for information and then his pack is going to move on like they always do.

The ringmaster walks slowly towards his friends and the stranger in their midst.

“How did you get past my barrier?” Suho asks.

Chanyeol’s eye twitches. Suddenly, he’s unbelievably angry at this Warlock.

“I don’t know,” Chanyeol hisses. “I just did. My pack’s still stuck so I came over here to ask you the same question.”

Suho looks over Chanyeol’s shoulder towards the Wolves. Chanyeol broadens himself as much as he can, trying to imitate the protective stance he’s seen Sehun and Kyungsoo take thousands of times for him.

“So they are,” Suho says. “Why are you here?”

“We have some questions for you,” Chanyeol says. “We’re looking for someone, a Warlock. We’re hoping you might have some knowledge of where he is.”

Suho looks Chanyeol up and down. His lips quirk suspiciously. “Why are you looking for this Warlock?” he asks. “Typically, if a Warlock wants to be found, he will be.”

“This Warlock doesn’t want us to find him,” Chanyeol says darkly. He twists his lips down and shakes his bangs out of his face. “Eighteen years ago, this Warlock along with ten other magic users massacred our families. He’s the last one left.”

A chill passes through the group, Chanyeol sees a few of them visibly shiver. Baekhyun’s watching Chanyeol with wide eyes.

“The last one left,” Suho says, rubbing his chin. “I hope you don’t mind me asking, but was this the Do Pack massacre?”

Chanyeol nods stiffly.

“Ah,” Suho says. He swirls his hand toward Chanyeol’s pack, his eyes glow red as the pupils expand, and he lets the Wolves in through the barrier. “I’ll be glad to answer any of your questions, that is if you let me study you a bit.”

“Study me?” Chanyeol asks.

He feels the solid weight of Sehun’s hand on his shoulder and Kyungsoo’s by his side.

“Study him?” Kyungsoo repeats.

“Yes,” Suho says. “Your friend-”

“Chanyeol,” Baekhyun says to him softly.

“Chanyeol’s the only one to ever bypass my security enchantments,” Suho says. “Last night as well as this morning.”

“Last night?” Chanyeol asks.

“Yes, I’m afraid I never sensed your presence. I always know who’s at my Circus,” Suho explains. “My tickets are specially made to allow access to the humans and supernatural that come to our shows. You had a ticket last night, but there’s no other way you could’ve come into our camp this morning with or without one. Yet, you did.”

“Oh,” Chanyeol says. He wonders if he should mention he could see through all of their glamours too.

“Can we speak privately?” Kyungsoo asks. Later it is, Chanyeol thinks.

Suho nods, sweeping his arm welcomingly and leading them to his tent. Chanyeol passes Baekhyun on his way into the tent, catching the scent of chamomile, and Baekhyun smiles at him. It’s a small smile, more like a tilt of the lips, but it sends Chanyeol’s stomach into a tiff despite that.

The tent is much, much bigger inside than out. It’s more like a house – Chanyeol can see _stairs_ past the kitchen – and it’s much, much nicer than the two-person tent his pack is sleeping in. They all settle around the breakfast table, a round thing that barely fits the four of them. There’s a steaming mug of tea on the table.

“Oh, this is Baekhyun’s,” Suho says, he picks up the mug. “Excuse me.”

He takes the mug out of the tent and hangs it to Baekhyun. They murmur a few words to each other and then Suho’s back.

“Alright,” Suho says. “What would you like to know?”

The pack looks at each other, communicating without words, and Kyungsoo nods.

“You asked Chanyeol if our families were killed during the Do Pack massacre,” Kyungsoo says. “Does that you mean you know about it? About the magic users who did it?”

Suho sighs, dragging his palms down his face as he slouches back in his chair. “Sadly, I do,” he says. “For my own safety and the safety of my wards, I keep track of the dark Witches and Warlocks. I’m so sorry for your loss.”

“Thank you,” Kyungsoo says. “We’ve been tracking them ourselves.”

“Chanyeol mentioned that out of the eleven magic users there that night, only one was left.”

Kyungsoo nods.

“May I ask what happened?” Suho asks.

“We ripped their throats out,” Sehun says. His jaw is clenched. “Those bastards killed fathers, mothers, children, elders mercilessly. We only survived because of twisted luck.”

“Way to be delicate,” Chanyeol says.

Suho puts his hand up. “No need,” he says. “I understand. You don’t need to explain to me your life decisions, but before we go any further, I want to be positive. Is your pack any threat to me and my wards?”

“No,” the pack says in unison.

Suho smiles.

“Good,” he says. “The Circus of the Stars is a special place. I created this Circus for the supernatural in need. Everyone outside is here because they need protection, whether it be simple food and shelter till they figure out where they’re going or because their lives are constantly at risk. As long as I can trust you and you help out around the Circus, you’re welcome to stay here as you track the last Warlock.”

“You know where he is, then?” Kyungsoo asks.

“We lost him in Turkey,” Sehun says. “The country, not the bird.”

Suho laughs, bright and cheerful. He looks a lot softer without the sinister face paint he performs with.

“I do know where he is, or at least where he’s going,” Suho says. “There’s a gathering this winter, on the Blood Moon, for Warlocks and Witches on the coast of the Baltic Sea. Sadly, only a magic-user can find the gathering as it’s a sacred celebration for those who work the dark arts.”

“So,” Kyungsoo says. “We need you to find him?”

“You don’t _need_ me,” Suho says. “You seem to be doing just fine on your own, but I’m offering my help.”

“Alright,” Kyungsoo says. He looks to the pack for confirmation, Sehun and Chanyeol nod. “Deal.”

“Awesome,” Suho says. “Now, Chanyeol, tell me what’s on your mind.”

Chanyeol startles in his seat, fumbling with the decorative salt shaker he was playing with. He spills some, but Suho wiggles a finger and the salt finds its way back inside the shaker.

“Uhm,” Chanyeol says. How should he start? “I don’t know what’s going on with me, but something is.”

“I’m guessing you usually don’t pass through a Warlock’s wards unnoticed on the regular?” Suho asks.

“That’s the thing,” Chanyeol says. “I’ve never been close enough to magic to actually know.”

“But you’ve hunted magic users.”

“Yeah, but I stay on the sidelines,” Chanyeol says. “I’m not a Wolf. I’m the son of a Witch who worked as the Do Pack’s healer. That’s as supernatural as I get.”

“Interesting,” Suho says.

“That’s not all.” Chanyeol winces. “I saw through your glamours too.”

“Some people have a knack for that,” Suho says. He opens his mouth to explain further, but Chanyeol cuts him off.

“No, I mean I didn’t see them at all,” he says. “Your Oni approached me in town yesterday to invite me to the show, and I could see he was an Oni. Kyungsoo and Sehun saw him as a human, but I could only see him as an Oni.”

“Oh,” Suho says.

“Yeah,” Chanyeol says. “That’s why we came to the show because we’d figured he was glamoured and where there’s a glamour…”

“There’s a Warlock,” Suho finishes. “Was Minseok’s glamour the only one you saw through?”

“Nope,” Chanyeol says. “I noticed the Nekomata right away, the Siren, the half-dragon, the Incubus, and whatever Baekhyun is.”

“He’s half-Dryad, half-Fae,” Suho says. “Wow, this has never happened before with my magic.”

“Is it a malfunction?” Sehun asks. “Like maybe Chanyeol’s coding is weird and you just need to adjust your spells so they’ll work on him.”

“Magic doesn’t work that way,” Suho says distantly like he’s deep in thought. “If it doesn’t work on one person, then it won’t work at all.”

“So, you don’t know what’s wrong with me?” Chanyeol asks.

Suho looks up, there’s an excited gleam in his eye, and Chanyeol tries not to squirm.

“I have absolutely no idea,” Suho says.

Great.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow, this is a long one.

**Author's Note:**

> This story is going to be five Acts with two parts each. I totally churned out this first Act this weekend because *inspiration* hit. I hope you enjoy and leave me a comment! I always respond.
> 
> Xoxo


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